Frequently asked questions

What exactly do I get?

A PDF of your book, A5 and ready to print wherever you like: the inside pages and the cover, as two files. It's the file you can make as many printed books from as you want; if you'd rather have it printed, we print it as a hardcover and mail it to you (US and Spain).

How much is it, and what else will I end up paying?

$49, once. You will never pay for copies, or shipping, or renewal, or color, or a second volume. In the United States and Spain we can also print it for you as a hardcover, 7 × 10 inches and in color, shipping included: $39 (39 € in Spain), or $49 if it runs past 200 pages. That is a separate purchase that only you decide on, once your book is ready, with the full price shown before you pay. If you're giving it, you can give it with the hardcover already included, for $88 (84 € in Spain), whatever its length.

Is it a subscription?

No. It's a single payment and there is nothing to cancel. There is no automatic renewal. If you're weighing it against a yearly plan, here is how Heirleaf compares with Storyworth on price.

What if Heirleaf closes?

Whatever you've downloaded is yours and doesn't need us. The PDF of your book is an ordinary file that any print shop can print. And if the answers were spoken, the recordings you download with it are ordinary audio files. What does depend on us is the link: what's stored on our servers, and downloading the book again with new answers. So once the book is finished, it's worth downloading it and keeping it with the family photos. While we're here, a paid book never expires. What we keep, and for how long, is in the privacy policy.

Can I see it before I buy?

Yes, the whole thing. The sample is a complete book, with its chapters, its contents page and its real typesetting, and you can download it without leaving us your email. And with your own first three answers, free, you see your cover and your first page before you pay.

What if I start and don't finish?

The book exists from the very first answer. Six answers make a booklet of six answers, not a failure: it's typeset just the same, with its contents page and its cover. Twenty-one already make a whole book.

Will my mom (or dad) actually do it?

Nobody can promise that, but it's built to make it easy. A phone is enough, and they can talk instead of typing. It's one question at a time, with no account and no password to remember. Someone can sit with them the first time. And if they stop after six answers, six already make a shorter book, typeset just the same, with its contents page and its cover.

How long does it take?

The twenty-one core questions are about two hours in writing, and you can do them in an afternoon if you like. You don't have to do it in one sitting: it saves itself and you pick up another day where you left off.

Do I have to answer them all?

No. Twenty-one make a book. There are more if you feel like carrying on, and you can skip any of them without explaining why.

What if a question doesn't apply to me?

You skip it and it disappears. They're written not to assume anything: none of them takes for granted a partner, or children, or money, or that you were happy.

Can I speak my answers instead of writing them?

Yes. Tap “Speak your answer”, tell it out loud, and we write down what you said. You can read it and correct anything we misheard, and your recording is always kept, so it can be checked word for word.

Are you going to pester me?

One email a week at most, with your next question inside, and you can switch it off in one click. There is no counter of what you haven't done and no deadline for anything.

Do you rewrite what I write?

Not one word. What gets printed is what you wrote. When you save, we point out spelling slips, and you decide whether to fix each one. The only things we write are the book's furniture: the cover, the contents page and the colophon.

Is it in color?

Yes. The printed book is in color, inside and out: their photos print as they are. The text is in black.

Where do I get it printed?

Wherever you like, as many times as you like. It's A5 (5.8 × 8.3 in), a standard size at print-on-demand printers, and it also comes out well on a home printer on ordinary paper. Or we can print it for you as a hardcover and mail it within the US or Spain.

Can I keep answering after I've paid?

Yes, and you download the book again with the new answers in it without paying twice. The file is yours and it doesn't expire.

Do I have to make an account or remember a password?

No. There is no account and no password. Your book lives at a link, and that link is the key.

What if I lose the link?

If you left us your email, we sent it there and it's sitting in your inbox. If you didn't, write to hello@heirleaf.com from the same address and we'll give it back to you. Your link is permanent: it doesn't depend on any email arriving.

Can my son or my grandchild help me?

Yes, and it's the most practical way. The link opens on any device, the two of you can write it between you, and what gets written saves itself.

Can I delete something by accident?

There is no button anywhere to delete an answer. What you write saves itself and stays.

What if I change my mind?

Thirty days from payment, no explanation needed, even if you've already downloaded the book: we refund everything, tax included. If it was a gift, for as long as the code hasn't been redeemed, up to ninety days after paying. It's in the terms — and if the person doing the writing falls ill or dies along the way, that conversation is had by a person and not by a form.

What name will show up on my bank statement?

It depends on what you buy. The digital book is charged by Paddle for us, so you'll see “Paddle”: if you see a charge from Paddle and don't recognize it, this is it. The hardcover, and the gift with the hardcover, are charged through Stripe, and your statement says “Heirleaf”.

Who can read what I write?

You, and anyone who has your link: the link is the key, so don't share it with anyone you'd rather not have read it. Whoever gave it to you sees nothing, and that isn't a setting anyone can change: it's built that way on purpose. If you answer by speaking, your recording goes through AssemblyAI, which turns it into text (how we handle your data). And we only look if you ask us for help with a problem and need to, to fix it.

Do you train artificial intelligence on what I write?

No, never. We have a whole page explaining where we use AI and where we don't.

Can I ask you to delete everything?

Yes. Write to hello@heirleaf.com and we delete it properly, keeping no separate copy; it drops out of the automatic backups as they renew. Billing records have to be kept by law, and that's written down too.

If I give it, will I see what they write?

No, not one word. Not their answers, not how far along they are, not how many they've done. Only whether they've redeemed the code or not.

Does the code expire?

No. The code doesn't expire, and once it's redeemed, the book never expires either.

When does the email reach them?

On the day you choose. If you don't pick a date, it goes out as soon as you've paid. And if you'd rather hand it over yourself, we give you the code and send nothing.

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